Return of Anti-Gang Program Prompts Progressive Meltdown at NMUSD
Rather than face accountability, Costa Mesa's progressive trustees no-showed the first 1 hour, 42 minutes of the 10/21/25 board meeting.
On Tuesday night, progressive trustees Leah Ersoylu, Ashley Anderson, and Michelle Murphy failed to appear for the first 1 hour and 42 minutes of the board meeting! Last month, these three were on the losing end of a divided vote to reinstate OC GRIP, a popular gang intervention program requested by teachers and administrators and supported by local police and the Orange County District Attorney. Rather than working with the rest of the board, Ersoylu, Anderson, and Murphy have been throwing an ongoing tantrum sullying the reputation and standing of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. The community has taken notice.
How did we get here?
June 10, 2025 Board Meeting
Back in June, the OC GRIP gang prevention program was on the agenda for renewal for the 2025-2026 school year. As we reported at the time, teachers, principals, and families of participating students all provided the district very positive feedback regarding the program. Trustees Ashley Anderson and Michelle Murphy voted no, which prevented the program’s renewal since only five trustees were present for the vote.
In explaining her vote, Trustee Anderson parroted progressive activist Defund the Police reasoning. She then accused the trustees who voted yes of harboring racial/ethnic bias:
September 16, 2025 Board Meeting
Trustee Ersoylu directs Murphy to vote yes: “You’re running again, just do it.”
Following the June 10 board meeting, newly-elected Area 5 Trustee Andrea McElroy was sworn in. With public safety as one of her top priorities, McElroy successfully pushed to get the OC GRIP program back on the agenda for a full vote of all seven trustees. The matter came before the board on September 16.
The hearing on this item lasted nearly an hour! The Orange County District Attorney, Todd Spitzer, came to answer questions for the board. District staff and the DA himself reiterated the demand and need for this valued program to return.
Trustees Ursoylu, Murphy, and Anderson opposed bringing the program back. Although the vote was 5-2 in favor of OC GRIP, Ersoylu directed Murphy to vote “yes,” whispering to her “you’re running again, just do it.”
Following the vote, Trustee Anderson unleashed an epic tirade. She attacked fellow board members for supporting OC GRIP. She seemed to espouse a belief that trustees can only vote on matters related to the schools in their trustee area and implied that these trustees did not “really understand” her schools:
Board President Krista Weigand deserves credit for navigating this issue to a successful yes vote.
The Community Responds
When three of our trustees act out like this, the community takes notice. Accordingly, community member Ruth Kobayashi created an agenda item through a public “Agenda Request Form” to address Anderson’s unprofessional remarks at the September 16 board meeting:
Trustees Anderson, Murphy, and Ersoylu were absent for nearly the entire board meeting. They did not return until after Kobayashi’s remarks. None of them addressed their absence.
Conclusion
Ultimately, this entire affair calls into question the judgment and leadership of progressive Trustees Ashley Anderson, Michelle Murphy, and Leah Ersoylu. As their Democratic colleague, Trustee Carol Crane, said, we live in a democracy, and majority rules. Our school board members must show up for taxpayers, district staff, and, most importantly, our students.
As even some Democrats have recognized, the party needs a reset on education policy. There has been too much focus on pet progressive or activist causes and not enough on the fundamentals that really matter, like student safety, core academic proficiency, and closing demographic achievement gaps. Progressive politics squander resources and time that would be better spent helping our students prepare for the future. If a deep red state like Mississippi can go from 49th to 9th in reading proficiency, we can improve too!
Students in District 7 go to Newport Harbor and Ensign. There were 2 gang related murders on Shalimar this year. There has ALWAYS been gang activity. Recruitment on Shalimar and the Westside. The GRIP program is an excellent deterrent. Ashley should resign. She's lost her focus.
The deliberate absence from the board meeting as a form of "protest" is petulant, demeaning to the students, parents and public, and I'm assuming a violation of the board 'Standards of Conduct' that all electeds agree to. A formal reprimand by the board for these three certainly seems in order here.
It should also be noted that, if those three were hanging out in back chambers together discussing their little "protest", and/or they coordinated their 'walkout' prior to the meeting, that's illegal and a violation of the Brown Act in and of itself... making them subject to FPPC sanctions.
This kind of activity, i.e. 'serial meetings', are a real problem in local elected bodies like this.